The Blackwell Chronicles
by karslavon
Summary: In the mysterious Blackwell academy, not only Max experienced strange events: all the students have some intriguing stories to tell. One shot collection in first person from several LIS characters point of view. Based on the AU from my previous fic: The Other Max.
1. Riddles in the Dark - part 1

**This is a collection of short stories based in the alternate universe I created for my previous fic - The Other Max.**

 **I strongly encourage you to read The Other Max before reading this fic.**

 **Enjoy!**

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In response to the question I just asked her, my friend Dana began to crack up as if I had told the funniest joke ever, leaving me stunned, standing still, and looking like a dummy. My arm was still outstretched, holding in my right hand an old audio recorder fully operational.

"Hahaha!" Dana put her hand to her mouth and ducked her head, as she continued giggling. "Forgive me, Juliet, it's just... I'm not used to see you in that pro attitude, it's so funny! Okay, now I'm serious. Can you repeat the question?"

"Again, I'm asking what do you know about the Vortex Club." I didn't give up in my effort to do an impeccable job, and I rephrased the question to my smiling friend and classmate, with the most severe countenance I could.

"Well... I know everyone who party with them ends up stoned and bladdered!" Dana could not maintain her composure during her answer nor a single second, and ended up laughing out loud again.

"Dana, this is serious! I'm risking my semester grades. When I asked you if you could lend me a hand by being interviewed, I wasn't joking."

I had such a big bummer: since I entered in Blackwell academy, and in the absence of any more volunteers, I promised to keep alive the official newspaper of the academy: _The Blackwell Totem_. I really love all that journalism stuff, and I really enjoy being a reporter, but now that I'm in my last year and my graduation is imminent, writing articles while I'm combining it with my usual tight student schedule is just an uphill battle. I curse the day I decided to undertake this task, but now is too late to regret, and now the brilliance of my academic record is directly linked to the performance I achieve with it. I needed a different story, breakthrough, daring... Finally, in an inspirational night, I decided to open an investigation about one of the most controversial icons of our school: The Vortex Club. So here I was: in front of Blackwell's central building, feeling in my bones a mid-November weather that was becoming colder every day, and beginning the round of interviews with my inseparable friend: the beloved and lively Bigfoot's cheerleader.

If I ask any student around here, just like Dana corroborated me right now, the Vortex Club is nothing more than a group of elitist students who often arrange parties in Blackwell with the principal's seal of approval. Spoiled kids, and wannabe popular students drinking weekend after weekend. I must admit that I am not stranger to all of this, since I have attended several of their events: it seems that if you never go party with them at least once, you are the new Blackwell weirdo. But lately, I prefer to watch them from the sidelines and not get too involved in that party hard lifestyle.

"Honestly, Juliet," my friend answered formally for the first time, "I don't think I can tell you anything that you don't already know. Also, I haven't been partying with them for a while… Remember with all this pregnancy stuff, I can't get high or drunk. That world is over for me now."

"Have you heard something of those 'dark tales' rumors inside the Vortex Club supposedly carried out by some of its most influential members?" The sound recorder was still taping all our conversation.

"Yeah, sure, like everyone else in Blackwell… and that got even stronger since Nathan disappeared. The last thing I heard out there is that the club was directly involved in the Jefferson case, with all that female students kidnap. For sure, I believe that all these are nothing more than mumbo jumbo invented by geeks with too much free time."

"Well, it's true that Nathan disappeared just a few days before the Jefferson case came to light. Although no relationship has been established between the two incidents, it's permissible for people to think that's suspicious. Did you meet Nathan while he was a Blackwell student?"

"You can tell. Everyone here knew him, just as everyone knows that his impeccable record is bought with money from the wealthy Prescott family. Nathan was a troublesome guy, and really out of his mind. He and my stupid ex-boyfriend got along, but how little I knew about Nathan was enough to tell that I don't want him close by."

"I see. And what can you tell me about Victoria Chase? It seems to be another of the club's hardcore member."

"Can I swear...? You know what I think of her, Juliet. We got along well until she proved to be a asshole, accusing me of sexting with your boyfriend..."

"Dana, forget all the personal stuff and stick to the subject, please."

"Look, I don't know, but there's no Vortex Club party without that bitch making her appearance. In fact, if you can stomach it, you should interview her rather than me, Juliet. You'd probably get more valuable information."

"Let's finish it here. Thank you very much for your cooperation, Dana! And... cut!"

I pressed the stop button on the recorder and finally I could relax my aching arm.

"My pleasure, Juliet. I hope you get through this with great grades. And to celebrate... we'll party hard at Vortex Club! LOL! Just kidding!"

"You're such a dork." I elbowed my friend with a smile. "I'd love to shelve this for a while so we could go out and have some fun, Dana, but I'm afraid I must keep on working on it if you don't wanna see my head on a plate."

"Cheer up, Juliet! You can do it! Now I'm leaving. I'm meeting Trevor now!"

"Have a lovely time, lovebirds. Later!"

On second thought, despite my head aches just to think about it, Dana was right: It might be a good idea to interview Victoria. After Nathan, she is probably the most influential person inside the club, so, much as it grieves me to say it, she's now the most appropriate person to get information for my article. I doubt that she even wanted to greet me, but I bit the bullet and set out to look for her all over the campus.

I proved to be diligent in my field, and after a few minutes of searching and a few questions to the students that passed by, I immediately found Victoria's whereabouts. She was in front of the student dormitories, as always, dressed as if she were Invited to the Oscar's ceremony, sitting on one of the steps of the entrance, and chatting with the only two girls in the academy that can stand her: Taylor and Courtney.

"Excuse me, Victoria! Would you mind answering a few questions for _The Blackwell Totem_?"

The Blackwell's snooty princess looked at me strangely at first, but she changed her expression as soon as I named the newspaper.

"Oh, Blackwell's famous reporter finally recognizes the quality and needs me for her articles!" She stuck out her chest and placed her hand on the back of her head. "What is it, Juliet? Article about photography? Or maybe fashion?"

I heard Taylor and Courtney giggling on both sides around the pretentious blonde. I can't stand them. After the dirty trick they did to Dana and me for which I almost broke up with my boyfriend, I'm out to get them.

"No, it's about the Vortex Club." I tried to hide my disgusted face. "As a usual member, I thought that you could illustrate me about the origins of the club, their activities, and confirm or deny the last rumors that are heard among the students."

Victoria frowned right away.

"All what they say out there is complete and absolutely untrue. The only thing we do at the club are classy and tasteful events accompanied by the best and most select students of the academy. I have nothing more to add." Victoria looked away after her words.

"Then, you deny the rumors they say that Nathan was involved in that students kidnapping and abuse case?"

Victoria winced and looked at me with a threatening gesture.

"That's bullshit, Juliet Watson. Not one more word. Oh! And I advise you, if you're gonna talk about us in your rag, don't do anything silly, or face the consequences. Let's move, girls."

A furious Victoria and her two chorus girls got up and left the area, leaving the stairs to the dormitories clear. Taylor looked at me before retiring, with a tight face and bulging eyes that seemed to tell ' _watch your step_ '. It was quite pathetic.

Nothing really useful for my article came from Victoria's mouth, but the most valuable information she gave me was her silence: that aggressive attitude reveals that the Vortex Club certainly has something to hide. I stood speculating quietly in front of the dorms entrance, when suddenly the door opened, and I saw Max Caulfield going outside. She was one of the photography students with whom I usually don't talk.

There was something strange about that girl. Although I barely know her, I've witnessed how she had undergone a kind of change lately, more or less coinciding with the resolution of the Jefferson case: she shifted her way of dressing, becoming more... alternative, or antisocial, or whatever. She dyed her hair red, and wore striking purple-rimmed sunglasses. What's that girl's deal? She didn't even look at me, and had every intention of going her way as if nothing happened. As she passed before my face, her shoulder touched mine.

"Sorry." Max said dryly, glancing sideways at me.

I stared at her strangely. What's with this freaky girl? I got a bad vibe about her. But wait... she may know something: I've heard that she was a key player in the solving of the kidnapping case, and she had a close relationship with the troublesome and well-known Rachel Amber, that girl recently deceased at Jefferson's hands and preceded by her Reputation as a party animal.

"Max? Wait!"

The red-haired girl, a few steps from me, turned around and answered me with complete carelessness.

"Yup?"

"Uh... could you answer a couple of questions about the Vortex Club? It's for _The Blackwell Totem_."

As soon as I mentioned the club, Max's expression changed completely. She looked shocked, and almost… scared. As if I had mentioned Lucifer in the middle ages or something like that.

"I'd rather not, for reals."

Great. I'm being nice to her, and she answers me all boor.

"Hey! At least, tell me if you've heard anything about the rumors that Nathan was involved in the kidnapping case!"

This time Max stopped dead in her tracks, and stood in front of me. She sketched a kind of psychotic smile that creeped me out.

"People do nothing but whisper bullshit, but no one has a fucking idea about what really happened. Listen, Juliet, forget that topic and write an article about anything else. Do not reopen Arcadia Bay's wounds. They are still very fresh."

What's that weirdo saying? As she spoke, her voice was playing more and more dramatic. So…. Is it true that the Vortex Club and the Jefferson crimes were interconnected? I must worm all the information I can from this girl, no matter what.

"Max, I don't want to reopen nothing. I'm just looking for the truth. Our academy deserves to know what really happened. You got along really well with Rachel Amber, didn't you? Don't you think she'd have liked Arcadia Bay to know the truth, so there will be no more victims like her anymore?"

"Rachel…"

Max, visibly moved, took off her sunglasses with trembling hand, just like in that _Downfall_ famous scene. My years of experience as a reporter wasn't in vain: I know how to deal with people like her, and touch them emotionally so they'll speak what I want.

"All that is a thing of the past." Max's tone became furious and she stretched her face close to mine. "Leave the dead to rest in peace, Juliet."

"If you're so concerned about the Vortex Club affairs, then we're allies, Max. The articles in our newspaper often help to put pressure on local issues. Think about it: we can make all the culprits pay, and believe me... I won't cry if that stupid elitist club goes to hell."

Max remained hesitant for a while. It seems that my persuasive tactics were paying off.

"If you insist on writing the article of the year... I suggest you gather information about the dark room at the next Vortex Club party. But don't count on me for anything else. I... I just want to forget. And live my life.

"Max, wait!" I waved her, trying to get her attention.

"I've talked too much." the intriguing redhead replied, glancing sideways at me as she put on her sunglasses again, and walked away from me.

Okay, that was bizarre, but at least I have a valuable clue to continue my research. The dark room... I think I read something about it in the articles that were published when the Jefferson case came to light. Isn't it the place where the disturbed professor was drugging and making grim pictures of the kidnapped students? It's clear that Max has much more information that she didn't want to tell. For the moment, in view of how affected she looks after the death of her friend Rachel, I'll leave her alone for a while, but she won't be able to hide from my scathing reporter side for a long time. Precisely, the Vortex Club organizes one of its parties tomorrow, and I'm not about to miss the event.

Weekend, and rest time for everyone... except for me. Walking down Blackwell campus under the moonlight, I headed to the place where the Vortex Club used to set up their parties: The swimming pool facilities. I wish I were here to have a drink instead of working, but this was a unique opportunity to gather information. Before entering, I read a text message Dana sent to my phone in which she wished me good luck, and regretted not being able to be there with me to offer me moral support. That was very nice of her, but I'm used to working alone, and I was feeling a little old for that party lifestyle that characterize the members of the club. I don't want to go as fast as Dana, who is even planning to take care of the creature she's breeding inside her, but my intention is to formalize and settle down as soon as I graduate.

Nobody was surprised when they saw me heading to the VIP lounge, where the most veteran members of the club can be found. After all, my boyfriend Zachary and myself have been habitual until recently. I even dressed for the occasion, with a dark green low-cut dress, a long necklace with colored balls, and several bracelets. I greeted several acquaintances while I moved, as I thought what my first move should be. Besides Nathan and Victoria, I wasn't sure who might be the most appropriate person to answer my incisive questions. Logan was hanging out there. I can't stand him, and less after she bailed on my friend and left her pregnant. I got it! I'll ask Hayden. The voluble football player was sitting on a couch doing his own thing, looking rather zonked out. I remember he got along pretty well with Nathan too, and in his current state, he'll speak for sure.

I walked towards Hayden at a rapid, determined pace, when suddenly, I noticed that someone was clutching my wrist, preventing me from moving forward. I looked back: it was Max, once again.

"Don't do that." Max's sapphire blue eyes pierced me with a stern warning gaze.

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 **A/N: Hi everyone!**

 **I encouraged myself to write this fic mainly for two reasons: give answers to some unsolved questions about my previous fic, and experimenting with different styles and genres. You'll find humor, mystery, drama, angst... all mixed, depending on the tone of the current story and its characters.**

 **This first story about Juliet was too long, so I decided to split it into two separate chapters. This will tie some loose ends about the Vortex Club and Max.**

 **Naughty Max says: _"Reviews turn me on so much. Review, please, please, please..."_**


	2. Riddles in the Dark - part 2

"Don't do that." Max's sapphire blue eyes pierced me with a stern warning gaze.

The tiny red-haired girl's outfit was the antithesis of the Club Vortex's usual etiquette: She wore black ripped jeans, a faded navy blue t-shirt, and a flannel shirt with various shades of black and gray. Dressing like this might have sense in a Green Day gig, but not here.

"Don't do what? What are you doing here, Max? Are you following me?" I answered annoyed.

"Don't talk to Hayden about the dark room. He'll react violently and you'll be his next victim. Believe me, it's not something pleasant to watch."

"How... do you know that?" What are you, a fortune teller?"

"Let's say I have a prodigious intuition."

Max grinned. I had bad vibes about her before, but now I can tell she's scary. What's with that reaction, if she was the one who told me to come here and inquire about the dark room...? Still, something tells me that I should listen to her: Fortunately or unfortunately, we are in the same boat.

"Then, what do you want me to do?" I used a tone between strangeness and mistrust. I still didn't feel comfortable talking to this ominous girl.

"Are you cereal? And you say you're a journalist? Gawd, look for files or digital devices: computers, cameras, flash drives... Don't use persuasion unless it is your last resort: People at Vortex Club are bad news."

This impertinent red-haired weirdo was being too cheeky with me, but I couldn't say she wasn't right. Maybe I've been excessively overconfident and should have acted with more caution: after all, it seems that what is happening inside our academy is something big. I'll be more careful from now on.

"I know a small office owned by the club with a computer inside. I've been in there when... well, never mind." I bit my tongue before confessing that I had used that room as a love nest.

"I know that office too…" Max looked away, his face was between distressed and disgusted.

"You…?" I thought if I should go deep into that subject, but my meddlesome reporter streak finally won. "Max, I'd never thought that you ever could set foot in a Vortex Club party, even less inside that office. Tell me, how did you end up there?"

"Your friend's ex-boyfriend tried to rape me in there."

That was a tough declaration. So it was, that she managed to shut my big mouth and make me feel bad for being such a nosy girl. I knew that Logan was a dick, but I had no idea that he could go that far to sexually abuse his classmates. I felt compassion for Max, and at the same time, my curiosity to know her story behind increased more and more.

In silence, we waited for the right moment to enter the office without being seen. Max won't leave my side, which made me feel a mixture of security and insecurity in equal parts. It was something like being escorted by a female, petite and red-haired Terminator.

I had been inside that room so many times, but, for obvious reasons, I had never noticed the details inside, apart than the large and comfortable couch was on the left side. Otherwise, there was a shelf with several filing cabinets and trophies, some interior plant and a desk, with its corresponding office chair and its desktop computer.

"I don't think we could stir much around here without them realizing..." I said while I looked in all directions.

"Keep calm. If anyone comes, I'll let you know." Max said with total serenity as she turned on the computer.

If anyone comes? And how the hell could she know that? I gossiped the contents of the filing cabinets while I were thinking that maybe it'd be more interesting to make an article about the mysterious Max, instead of the Vortex Club.

There was nothing really revealing among the many filing cabinets, but I took photos of several interesting documents, including bills in the name of the Prescott family showing they ordered the manufacture of an underground bunker, or some suspicious handwritten papers in a very cryptic way, where some transactions were written down, made by people with aliases such as Terrier, Bulldog, Rottweiler and other dog breeds, amounting to hundreds or even thousands of dollars. In the middle of my document collection, Max interrupted me.

"The computer is password protected and I can't figure it out."

"Well, and what did you expect, Max? Or are you going to tell me that you're a hacker too?"

"No, but we'll find out. I'm going to talk to Hayden."

"Uh?" I frowned as Max started to move towards the door with a determined pace. "Are you nuts, Max? Are you going to ask the password to that stoned maniac just like that? You just told me that those people are bad news!"

"Everything will be alright." Max replied with her usual apathetic face. "You come with me and be careful."

Everything will be alright? I usually have plenty of confidence and optimism, but even I know when something is a suicide, and that's what Max's plan was. I hope I won't have to use the pepper spray I was carrying in my bag, but I left it close at hand, just in case.

Max in front and with me following her, we headed for Hayden's location, which was exactly where he was when I entered: sitting on the VIP lounge couch, with arms resting on the headboard, and nonchalant face.

"Hi, Hayden." Max said, standing in front of the Bigfoot player.

"Who…? Damn, it's you, Max! Girl, I won't get used to that dye you put on your hair. Hey, but looks cool! Wanna snort a line?" Hayden seemed really zoned out, he could hardly keep his eyes open.

"Hayden, handsome. Would you like to play a little game with me?"

To my surprise and astonishment, Max sat on Hayden's lap without asking permission, put her arm around his shoulders and spoke in a mellow voice. What the fuck...? She completely changed her persona. Is she Rachel Amber's redhead spirit reincarnated...?

"Sounds like fun! Alright, what's your proposition, Mad Max?" Hayden looked at her with foolish face. I mean, even more foolish.

"I propose we play riddles. If I win, you invite me to a blunt. If you win... I'll do whatever you want."

What the fuck are you up to, Max? What's the point of making this scene and, above all, what has to do with our research? When I thought the astonishment in my face couldn't be greater, the girl in the flannel shirt looked at me and winked, with a gesture that seemed to say, ' _wait a little and you'll understand._ ' You're asking for too much, Max, considering that we've barely talk since the academic year began, don't you think? But right now, what else could I do besides trusting her?

"So, whatever I want, huh?" The Vortex Club member made a faked meditative face, as he put one hand to his chin and the other around Max's waist.

"Whatever you want me to do."

"Well then, if I win, you'll do a striptease just for me."

"Deal."

Until today, I just thought Max was a peculiar girl. But now I see that she really is nuttier than a fruitcake. Either that, or she is 100% sure to win her bet. What the hell is she thinking?

"Ask me anything you want," Max said after sealing the deal with Hayden by shaking their hands, "and I have to guess the right answer. If I fail, I will undress sensually for you."

Where had Max got that suggestive minx voice? So, she has other registers besides her usual apathetic and boor tone... Gosh, she's a real dark horse.

"And I can ask whatever I want?" Hayden cracked up. "You must be so high if you think you can stand a chance, Max!" The party boy was gesticulating awkward and exaggeratedly as he spoke.

"I'm waiting…"

"Okay, here I go, riddle me this: what are the names of all the girls I nailed?"

"Rebecca, Samantha, Ingrid, Victoria, Taylor, Dana, Juliet. In that order." Answered an impudent Max.

I turned red like a tomato. She said that for good, as if nothing happened! How could she know that, if the only person who is supposed to know that I had a crazy night with Hayden once, apart from Hayden himself, is Dana? When did that jackass spill the beans? And what's more... he screwed Dana too? She never told me. This can't be true... and yet, judging from Hayden's amazed face, it's true indeed. That Max... is she a powerful sorceress out of a fantasy book or something?

"Impossible! That's impossible!" Hayden tapped the couch with his fist as he muttered. "I demand a rematch! Double or nothing! If you win this time, I'll give you two blunts!"

Max grinned with mischievous face.

"Deal. You still can ask me anything you want."

"What have I got in my pocket?"

"Three dollars with eighty-five cents, cigarette paper, a tissue, and a condom."

Okay, confirmed: Max is a magician. I can't come up with any reasonable logical way the red-haired girl can know that. I admit that I can't wait to ask her how she make it, but, for the moment, the show must go on, and Hayden put on a look of amazement and disbelief I had never seen before. Any other person would immediately retire from the game, but, I don't know if moved by stupidity or the drugs effect, he still wanted to continue playing.

"No, no, no! One last chance! I'll give you three blunts!"

"It seems you're a little troubled, Hayden... Look, don't worry: if I win, you don't have to give me any blunt. All you have to do is telling me the club computer's password."

"Uh? I don't know, Max, this is weird, and I don't know what you're up to..."

"You don't want to see my sexy naked body, Hayden, is that, right?" Max whispered suggestively to his ear, as she ran her hand around the confused boy's neck. You can tell she knows how to manipulate a man. I'm even kind of jealous...

"Shit, Max! Okay, I'm going to ask you something that is completely impossible for you to know! What did my grandmother call me when I was a baby?"

"Pimperneling."

On the one hand, Hayden went white. On the other hand, I noticed Max suddenly tired, as if giving her answer would have exhausted her suddenly. Had the magician just drained all her mana, or what? I'm out of myself. Certainly, as an esoteric show, this conversation was priceless.

"Give up already, Hayden." The pale boy remained silent, so Max took the initiative. "Be a man and complete your end of the bargain."

Hayden ducked his head and took a few seconds to react.

"You already know it."

"What…?"

"The password. You just guessed it: it's my grandma's nickname for me. With capital P." The boy laid defeated on the couch, unable to look Max in the face.

Max and I looked at each other. She nodded and told me to go back to the office where the computer was. I was still freaking out with the scene I had just contemplated.

"Max," I said as we closed the office door and she turned the computer back on, "that was weird, but... unbelievable. Can I ask you how the hell you did it?"

"I told you so," said the red-haired girl, unmolested and taking control of the computer's mouse, "I have a prodigious intuition. And now let's get into business. I'm exhausted."

She didn't even have time to enter the password: at the speed of thunder, Hayden burst into the room, opening the door loudly. His eyes were bloodshot and she looked at us with a psychotic face.

"You won't get away with this, bitches!"

That was a sudden change of attitude... As quickly as he entered, Hayden closed the door and walked toward us with malicious intentions. As Max was behind the desk, I was closer to him. I began to panic and instinctively backed off, but luckily, I had enough reflexes to use my pepper spray just when that maniac was about to catch me. My heart was pounding so fast. During my years as a reporter I had gotten myself into trouble, but I think this was the first time I feared for my physical integrity.

"You motherfucking bitch! What have you done to me!? I'll bust up your face!"

Hayden writhed on the office's carpet, his face covered with both hands and kicking like a little boy. He will remain like that for a while.

I looked at Max. To add even more drama to the already convoluted scene, I found her in a strange pose, with her nose bleeding, and her right hand forward, as if she were a character out of a manga about to throw a fireball or something.

"Max!" I shouted. "Are you okay?"

"Shit... Not now... Why did it have to stop now...?" My peculiar partner mumbled with a desperate gesture.

"May I ask what the hell this is all about?" I don't usually lose my temper, but, at this rate I'll end up with a nervous breakdown. "You all are driving me crazy!"

"Juliet, I... uh... that shouldn't have happened."

"Of course it shouldn't have happened!" I was almost hysteric. "Hayden tried to attack me and I just sprinkled pepper spray on his eyes! What do we do now!?"

"I don't know, Juliet..." Max, distressed, tried to wipe the blood that emanated from her nose with a tissue as she spoke. "I'm sorry, I was hoping it wouldn't come to this..."

I sighed in despair, and began rummaging around the room like a madwoman in search of... something. I wasn't sure what to do, but I had Hayden writhing and kicking just a few feet away from me, and it was predictable that in a few moments he could stand up and I don't want to be around when that happens. In my search, in which I dropped several filing cabinets and other office supplies to the floor, I found something: there was a syringe inside a desk drawer, accompanied by a small bottle of liquid and a label reading _Midazolam_. I have no idea about pharmacology, but there was no time to google it. So, I decided, in what would probably be the most crazy and risky act of my life, to dispense that drug to Hayden intravenously, in the hope of leaving him unconscious.

Max watched me with confused face, while I, with a terrible pulse and extreme awkwardness, inserted the syringe into the drug bottle, whose effects were completely unknown for me. I never did something similar before, and I was acting just based on logic, and documentaries or movies I saw. With the loaded syringe in my hand, I looked at the unguarded Hayden. I'm supposed to inject this somewhere now, right?

"In the neck, Juliet!" Max finally reacted, and she seemed to be reading my mind.

No idea if Max will have some experience as a practitioner, but she'll have more than I, that's for sure. So, with all the speed that my accelerated heartbeat allowed me, I went around Hayden from behind, I stuck the needle in what I thought would be the Jugular vein, and supplied him the drugs. As a note to myself, I proposed not to meet Max ever again. I don't want to do this anymore.

"It's working!"

Max was right: in a matter of seconds, we witnessed Hayden slowed down his compulsive moves, as if he were running out of batteries, until finally he stopped, without moving at all. He kept breathing, his eyes were half open, in a state of deep anesthesia. Both Max and I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Well done, Juliet! I'm sorry I wasn't helpful this time..."

"Just forget what just happened, okay?" I answered, trying to recover my regular heartbeat. "Now let's continue our task where we left off. I have no idea how long the effect of the drugs will last."

With trembling pulse and with the strange image of having Hayden drugged and lying on the floor next to us, Max entered the correct password on the computer, giving us access to all its contents. We both stood with our face illuminated by the vast flat monitor, and we couldn't believe what our eyes saw. There was no need to do a deep research, and we soon had all the twisted Vortex club material within our reach: E-mails where Nathan and other members dealt with drugs, conversations mentioning that dark room, blackmailing Blackwell girls to attend the parties, and worst of all... some photos showing Vortex Club members abusing them.

"My God... this is first class stuff. Now we have enough evidence to wipe out the Vortex Club once and for all, Max! Max?"

When I looked at the freaky girl, she was beside herself, staring at the monitor with eyes wide open, quivering hand over the mouse, gritted teeth, and agitated breathing.

"Those motherfucking bastards…"

I looked at the monitor too, to discover the why of Max's reaction: she was browsing an email where they were talking about 'recruiting' Rachel Amber for some 19th October party, referring to her as 'little whore' or 'crazy slut', with several voyeur pictures of her attached. It's clear that Rachel is Max's kryptonite... After reading it, she tried to smash the computer screen, but luckily, I was able to stop her by holding her wrist.

"We're going to need this." I stared at her with upset face. She continued with an alienated gesture.

After that, Max suddenly went berserk: she threw all the stuff on the desk to the floor, shed several file cabinets against the wall, smashed her punch against the furniture, and kicked the defenseless Hayden in his stomach. As she did all this, she screamed in despair with a broken voice. At least, the door is closed, and the music outside sounded at an atrocious volume. If not for that, someone would come alerted to our position, for sure.

"Max! Calm down already! We're gonna get caught!"

We had to get out of here as soon as possible: I inserted my flash drive in one of the USB computer ports, and copied all the files that we had just discovered. As soon as I finish with this, we'll storm off. During the process, Max was sobbing, sitting in a corner of the room embracing her own knees.

"Rachel…"

* * *

That was the last time I saw Max. In the following days, I dedicated myself to work on my article by myself, until I managed to publish it. It took me blood, sweat, tears and a lot of sleep hours, but by the middle of the following week I finished it and I could breathe in relief. I thought my findings were huge, so I not only published it in _The Blackwell Totem_ , but also pulled some strings to make it appear in the local Arcadia Bay newspaper. Neither Victoria, nor Hayden, nor anyone in the Vortex Club could do anything to stop me, and fortunately I had the protection of principal Wells, who guaranteed that there would be no reprisals against me for exposing all this gruesome plot. I don't know what will be the real scope of my investigation, but for the moment, all subsequent activities of the Vortex Club were canceled, and more importantly, everyone in town found out what these spoilt brats were doing.

I didn't talk to anyone anything about what took place at the party, not even Dana. It was all so surreal, that even to this day I keep wondering if that really happened, or if somehow my mind was playing tricks on me. Coincidentally, it was Thursday morning when I was walking the Blackwell campus, and suddenly ran into the only person I could talk about the subject.

"Hi, Juliet." the bizarre redhead girl greeted me with her usual apathetic expression. "I saw that you finally managed to publish your article. Congrats."

"Thanks, Max. The truth is that... without you, it wouldn't have been possible. I really appreciate that, and... I'm sorry if I've reopened any wounds."

"It's okay. A very important person taught me once that it doesn't matter what happens to us, the key is how we face it. I have to carry on with my life no matter what, Juliet." Max paused for breath. "And by the way... almost all the credit goes to you. Thank you for not mentioning me in your article and keeping the secret."

"A good journalist never reveals her sources." I smiled at my classmate. "No one else will know that Supermax is something more than just a nickname... As long as you don't blab about 'that thing' between Hayden and me, of course!"

"We all keep some secrets..." Max grinned slightly as she stared into the confines of Arcadia Bay.

After saying goodbye, we both keep on walking our own way. I knew Max and I won't talk again for a long time, but I was cool with it: I know that if I ever got into trouble one more time, that anonymous heroine, our Blackwell's particular ninja, will be there to help me out.


	3. Raiders of the Lost Pot

"Dude, we are in the middle of nowhere." Justin said to me in a voice tone that showed his remarkable plastered state. "There's not a damn soul in this part of town at this hour. We'd better go back, at least there're still some life in the town center."

"Don't give up hope yet!" I said to my pessimistic mate with energy. "Let's move to the cliff, and if we don't see anyone, we turn around, okay?"

"Don't know what the fuck is in your head today to want to score dope so hard, Trev, man. If it's for Stella, don't go crazy with that. C'mon, this town is lousy with chicks..."

I can't understand how Justin could be so chill with all that stuff. Surely that's why he hooks up with more girls than I: while I'm nervous and insecure, he has that self-confidence aura that apparently chicks like so much, even being so damn ugly: The glasses guy now grew a lame blonde mustache and he looks like ass.

Yes, I wanted to bake today. I know that won't solve anything, but staying at home complaining won't either, so for my part I prefer to stun my head a little and stop thinking negative shit for at least one night. That's why Justin and I were lost alone in the middle of that summer night of 2012, walking through the coastal area of Arcadia Bay, carrying a backpack that contained a huge amount of beer cans, near the lighthouse cliff, and looking without much hope for someone who has dope.

"Fuck it, man, I'm turning around now." Justin frowned. "This is nonsense."

"Wait!" I said, pointing to the bottom of the cliff. "It looks like… there's a couple of people there?"

Justin put his hand on his forehead and narrowed his eyes. Our visibility was not exactly terrific as we had no more light sources than the Arcadia Bay lighthouse and the moonlight. Without waiting to hear my skateboarder fellow's opinion, I made a quick step towards my discovery.

"Fuck, Trevor, chill! Maybe it's a couple screwing, and then you won't be laughing!"

As we approached, our vision was becoming clearer: they were two girls just about our age, lying on the beach sand, and... score! They were smoking. Now the only thing left is checking that's not a simple cigarette. Fuck, we were lucky. And on top, it seems that both girls are hot.

"E-excuse me!" I interrupted the girls with a certain shyness. Justin was behind me with his arms crossed and serious face. "By any chance, you won't have...?"

Both girls turned at once. Wait a minute... their faces are familiar to me. I'm sure I've seen them in Blackwell sometimes. One of them wore a punk from hell outfit: blue-dyed hair, a tattoo covering her entire right arm and wearing alternative clothes that clearly you couldn't find in any regular fashion store. About the other girl... Damn, I got it! She's that notorious nerd, well-known in town for getting maximum grades at the academy. I think her name was Rachel, but... she looked quite transformed. She wasn't wearing glasses anymore, her blond hair wasn't picked up and her outfit was similar to her friend's one; Black shorts and tank-top with a print of a bleeding heart, full of bracelets, pendants and other accessories. Since when she smokes and dresses like that? Justin's foolish face after seeing the girls was ridiculous. Now my night whim doesn't seem so bad to you, huh?

"Yes?" The blue-haired girl looked at me with very unfriendly face. "What the fuck do you want?"

"Chloe, don't be so rude. They're just two boys who want to flirt with us. I told you, we are so hot that we won't get rid of them even going to the innermost corner of Arcadia Bay!"

"Actually…"

"But, you're not lucky tonight, guys!" The blonde interrupted me before I could explain myself. "Chloe and I are together. So, if you came here looking for company... too bad! Shoo, shoo!

Confirmed: hot girls are the most lunatic ones. There's always a trick or catch.

"Together, my ass!" Justin protested with a serious look and still with his arms folded. "I'm not buying it. So, show me, if you really are together, kiss now."

But, talking about mad people, Justin is not far behind... What's with that thuggish attitude? The two girls looked at each other. The one with the blue hair looked pissed as Rachel maintained a mischievous smile.

"C'mon, Chloe... Kissy, kissy!" Said the blonde, stretching her arms towards her alleged girlfriend.

"What the fuck...?" Chloe placed her arms in a defensive position. For a couple of seconds, she looked at Justin wanting to curse him. The girl in the black top was getting closer to her with kissy face. "Rachel, stop it!"

"I see." Justin half smiled. "So, you are together, huh? That won't wash, girls. Your story is faker than that blue hair color."

"Okay, wise guy!" Chloe yammered, "We're not together! But we aren't looking for company either, so, get out!"

"And who the fuck said that? We are just looking for some dope, damn it!"

To be honest... I wouldn't mind having their company, and, I'm sure Justin wouldn't either, for what I know about him. But that was a smart move.

"Oh! Oopsy..." Rachel put an innocent, foolish face. "Sorry, guys, but when an average of twenty horndog guys harass you in a day, you end up putting a big shield around, you know what I mean. Join us!"

Fuckin' tight! Objective achieved, for free, and on top of it all, accompanied by two beauties. I got dibs on the blonde! I noticed that Justin liked the blue-haired girl. The same girl that now was protesting to her friend's change of heart:

"Rachel! What are you doing? Shut your mouth!"

"Sorry about that, guys." The blonde looked at us with a penitent expression. "Usually Chloe is not so boor... She's just a little reluctant to meet new people, but at the end she's nice, believe me. Why don't you sit down with us and introduce yourself? As you heard before, I'm Rachel."

"I'm Justin, and this crazy guy here is Trevor." said the blond mustache guy as he sat down and laid his backpack on the sand. "Wanna drink?"

"Now we're on the same page!" Said Chloe while she grabbed eagerly a beer from Justin's backpack as if they were to be banned tomorrow.

"Nice to meet you too, Chloe…" Justin replied sarcastically to the girl who didn't introduce herself. "You're going to Blackwell, aren't you? I'm sure I've seen your faces before."

"I've seen you in the papers, Rachel!" I said to the blonde trying to put my best face. "You're such a nerd… I mean, such a prodigy!"

That should be the most pitiful comment ever. Great start, Trevor! At least, Rachel laughed and handed me the joint she was smoking.

"Haha! Yeah, I'm the shit!" The lively blonde appropriated without asking another of the beer cans we were carrying. "But I'm not continuing my studies next year: I'm in contact with a modeling agency to start working with them, and they pay hella cash! What about you, Trevor? How's your life?"

Rachel put a curious face, tilting her head and resting both hands on the sand. Damn, she's really cute. No wonder she can work as a model.

"Uh…"

"Lemme guess!" The talkative blonde interrupted me again. "You wear a cap, wide clothes, you smoke pot... You're a skater, you can't deny it!"

"Heh..." I replied shyly as I put my hand on the back of my head. "Now you've rumbled me."

"Cool, man! I love skaters!"

Rachel gave me a piercing look that made me turn red. She's effusive, that's for sure… The truth is that she's totally my type.

"So, what about you, Chloe?" Justin decided to intervene after seeing I was getting along well with Rachel. "You also are a Blackwell girl, right?"

"Well," the blue-haired girl averted her gaze with a half grin, "that was before they kicked me out."

"No fucking way! What did you do to get kicked out of the academy, girl?"

Justin inhaled the smoke from the blunt Chloe was passing, while she took a long sip from her beer can.

"What did I do…? Which one? I did so many things…"

"Tell him the dung story!" An excited Rachel said with her fists clenched. "The dung one, Chloe! That was hellarious!"

"Oh, right! Well, one day I just took a plastic bag, filled it with manure, and threw it into a classroom window, colliding with a bastard teacher who got on my nerves."

"Fuckin' score!" The blonde was cracking up as she remembered. "I was in class in that moment. Can you imagine being so quiet, and suddenly watching a bag full of shit bursting directly into the teacher? I almost wet myself laughing, there're even some videos uploaded on social media."

"My respects, oh Master Chloe." Justin moved his arms up and down in the direction of the punk girl in a sign of worship. "The rest of us mortals have a lot to learn from you!"

"That's nothing, there's a lot more." Chloe added as she hit our shared joint one more time, "For example, the day I smoked in the middle of the class, or when I freed the lab rats and let them all over the academy..."

"You know that Victoria ass, don't you?" Rachel remarked. "Can you imagine her shouting and yelling behind a rat as if Godzilla were chasing her? That was amazeballs."

Rachel is a little big whirlwind, and she looked meek at first... It gave the impression that her blue-haired friend dragged her to the dark side, but I won't be the one to give out to her: I like her present style like a thousand times more.

"You are my new goddess, Chloe!" Justin joined the girls in her laughter, and then raised his can proposing a toast. "Here's to us and all the people who hate Victoria and her bullshit!"

"Cheers!"

The four of us toasted with our respective cans at once, celebrating our chance encounter, and what I'd like to be the beginning of something more.

"Guys, I have an idea! What if we play a little game to get to know each other better?"

"Spit it out!" said a Chloe rather friendlier than a moment ago. It seems that we had succeeded in destroying her mistrust shield at last.

"Look, basically, this game is about stating a sentence that starts with ' _I've never…_ ', whether what you say is true or not, and, if the rest of the players have done what the sentence claims at least once in their lives, they must take a sip of their drink."

"You want me to get hella plastered, you smartass!" The blue-haired girl slapped my colleague's shoulder. She might not be plastered, but it was obvious that the grass began to make its effect on her.

"Sounds fun!" Said Chloe's blonde friend with her usual energy. "You start, Justin, so the rest of us learn how to play!"

"Okay, for example, this is a classic: _I've never made up with someone from Blackwell_." Then the skater in the glasses took a sip.

"So..." said a hesitant Chloe, "if it's true that I made up with someone from Blackwell, I must take a sip, right?"

"You're getting the idea."

"But... only once, or as many times as Blackwell people I've made up with?"

There was general laughter after the punk girl's unfortunate comment.

"No comments." Justin continued, still giggling once we calmed down a bit. "The rest must do the same as Chloe, and then it's up to her to state a new sentence."

"I haven't made up with anyone in the academy yet, so I can't drink!" Rachel said, folding her arms and putting a faked annoyance face. "How about you, Trevor?"

"The truth is I haven't either…" I answered Rachel.

"This guy here was several weeks after a Blackwell chick, but in the end, she dumped him. That's why he was so eager to get baked today."

"Poor thing!" The extroverted blonde stroked my back and stared at me with those beautiful hazel eyes. "Well, we'll have to do something about it soon... don't you think, Trevor?"

That answer only has two possible meanings: either I'm already baked and I don't see what's going, or Rachel is flirting with me. Or both. Tonight can be a great night.

"Okay, it's my turn. Let's see..." Chloe concentrated and cleared her throat before uttering her phrase. " _I've never went skinny-dipping on this beach_."

Again, there was generalized riot at Chloe's stunning sentence, especially after both she and Rachel took their respective sips.

"You say you two...? But... together?"

"What if I said yes?" Rachel looked at Chloe with a mischievous smile after answering and her friend looked back.

Ho-ly-shit.

Justin and I looked at each other, drooling with idiotic face. Immediately and inevitably, and I think no one can blame me for doing it, I visualized the suggestive scene described by the girls and my heated imagination started to work overtime.

"You don't?" Chloe added. "Then you should try it. It's the shit."

Justin and I looked at each other again, but this time with a disgusted expression that shouted ' _No, man, I don't wanna see your tushie_.'

"My turn, my turn!" Exclaimed an excited Rachel with her hand raised. "Let's see... _I've never hooked up with someone of my own sex_."

If they kept claiming those kind of sentences, I couldn't never drink. Fuck, they're making me feel like an inexperienced jerk. However, I watch a funny scene in which Rachel sipped and Chloe blushed.

"What's wrong, Chlo?" The girl in the black top nudged her friend and gave her a naughty look. "Aren't you gonna drink?"

Chloe's blush reached unsuspected tones of bright red.

"Rach, you're an asshole!" Grumbling the indiscretion of her friend, an angry and embarrassed Chloe sipped her beer reluctantly, as Justin and I glared at each other. You can tell those two hotties had a crazy night together, for sure.

"Sorry for meddling in your business, but…" Justin intervened, "it was during the skinny-dipping, or that go way back?"

My friend and I almost ended up rolling on the beach sand laughing. Rachel giggled with her hand in her mouth, as Chloe covered her face and looked as if she wanted the earth to swallow her.

"I didn't say it was with her, freaks!" A Chloe with red cheeks spat us.

"Yeah, yeah…" we answered, with funny disbelief expression. The blue-haired girl was shifting from shame to anger in a matter of seconds.

"I won't forget this, Rach!" She tried to conceal it by frowning, but deep down, Chloe was laughing too. The blonde didn't take her friend's threats any seriously.

"You're so tense, Chloe. C'mon, I'm rolling another jay for you to chill." After Rachel reached for her bag on the sand and picked up the necessary kit to make the joint, she turned to me. "It's your turn, skater guy!"

"Okay… _I've never…_ "

I didn't even have time to finish the sentence. A sharp gust of wind cut me suddenly, forcing me to squint through the annoying sand it carried, and worse, taking with it the small plastic bag where the girls kept the grass.

"Shit! The green!" Chloe gritted her teeth. As she spoke, the windy blast pushed the small bag with the drugs away.

"I'll go get it!"

In a reflex movement, I sat up and ventured to pick it up: if we didn't hurry, we'll lose sight of it and there'll be no way to recover it. I ran behind the dope a few steps, but the wind seemed to tease me by dragging it a little further. At this rate, it'll cross the limits of the beach.

"I'll go too!" I heard Rachel behind me, and then, her quick steps trying to hunt me down. By the time Rachel reached my position, the drug was lost among the pastures, in an area where the beach began to mix with the woods.

We were almost completely dark and I could scarcely perceive the lineaments of Rachel's face. I took out my cell phone and opened an app that used the camera flash as a flashlight.

"Where is it?" I inquired as I pointed the beam of light to the ground in every direction.

We were screwed: looking for something green among a heap of grass, in the middle of the night. Fucking great. At least, I have the hot blonde right next to me, keeping me company. It made me want to say shit to the dope and throwing myself into Rachel's lips, but ironically, I needed the weed to gather enough courage to do that.

"Trevor, this is kind of scary... and I hear strange noises..."

I don't know if Rachel was really scared or just faking it, but she grabbed my arm. This is starting to resemble a damn B-series horror movie. Although the risk of a monstrous creature appearing out of the undergrowth wasn't so unpleasant if the Blackwell valedictorian blonde was still attached to me.

We went a few more steps further without having any success in our task. From our location, Chloe and Justin were barely two black smudges practically imperceptible. I almost jumped out of my skin as I discovered that Rachel's thoughts were not imaginations: I was hearing noises too. We are not alone?

"What was that? It's getting closer…"

That's it: it's got to be a practical joke from Justin... Or a hidden camera from some lame local TV show, since I'm not so high as to forget that it can't be a supernatural creature. And yet, sounds of someone walking on the grass accompanied by a strong breath that didn't seem human became ever closer and evident.

Noticing how Rachel was squeezing me more and more wasn't enough to reassure me: I aimed the phone's flashlight forward in every direction again and again, fearful of what I might discover, until I glimpsed something that made me fall on my back: There was indeed a presence nearby.

"Fuck!" I cried out in horror as I fell to the floor and Rachel released me. I barely saw it for a split second, but it was huge.

"C'mon, it's just a doe!" Rachel breathed a sigh of relief, making me feel like a complete idiot: I just got scared by a most common animal in Arcadia Bay that I've eaten filleted hundreds of times in Two Whales. "And she's a particularly brave one, daring to come here with us! Trevor, give me some light, please!"

Feeling bad both for the fall, and for my ridiculous shock, I tried to point again to the animal that stood a few feet from us. Indeed, I could verify that it was a simple female deer and not a creature from beyond the world. I also saw that she held something with her teeth.

"Hey! That thing she's carrying on her mouth…"

"Our weed!" Rachel said, while pointing her finger at the animal's nose.

Suddenly, as if she sensed our intentions, the doe started to run in the opposite direction.

"Hold it, Daisy! We don't want to hurt you!" Rachel ran in the doe's direction, forcing me to follow her at the same speed, so I could provide her light. Daisy? Did she just baptize that creature?

My zoology knowledge is certainly scarce, but I don't need to be an expert to realize that the doe's behavior was very peculiar: She ran away from us, but at the same time, she did it at a leisurely pace that allowed Rachel to reach her, stopping from time to time and looking back. I'd say that she seemed to be guiding us somewhere, but that thought was completely nonsense.

We were jogging along the edge of the beach for a couple of minutes while Rachel called the animal shouting her head off, until I ended up exhausted. I'm sure running after smoking pot is on the list of things not recommended by nine out of ten doctors. Finally, the newly-named doe Daisy stopped in front of a huge rock, and remained with her black eyes piercing on the blonde girl. The beach was about two hundred yards from us, and the Arcadia Bay junkyard wasn't far away from here.

"What are you trying to say, Daisy? Why did you bring me here?"

"Uh..." I said with a raised eyebrow. "Do you even know this beast?"

"Don't call her beast!" Rachel groaned. "She's Daisy. And no, I didn't know her until now. But I know she wants to tell me something."

The animal remained still in her position, barely shaking her hind legs from time to time, staring at the doe whisperer girl, with our recreational substances still in her mouth.

"Er... Now you won't tell me you have the ability to communicate with the animals, right?"

"How can you doubt it? We all have that ability, one way or another. Have you never communicated with your spirit animal?"

"With my… what?"

"You know nothing, Trevor. But don't worry," the enigmatic girl looked at me with a compassionate gesture, "sooner or later you will discover yours, you just have to listen to your instinct. My spirit animal, as you could guess, is the doe."

I stand by what I said before: All the hot chicks are mad as a mongoose. Or a doe, in this case. Although I won't deny that the animal's behavior has been, at least, atypical. Was there any truth in all the nonsense that Rachel were saying?

"This place..." the blonde squatted down on the rock that the doe seemed to point, "it's going to be important to me sometime. I don't know exactly how, for better or worse... but somehow, it will mark me."

How could she know all this just by looking at a doe and a rock? This is crazy. Rachel walked over to the animal, which didn't seem to bother at all, until she caressed the doe's neck. The resulting image turned out to be amazing: I don't think you can see every day the picture of a doe being caressed by a perfect young model with her wind-blown blonde hair, a reciprocal warmth expression and a mutual connection that is difficult to explain with words. Taking advantage of the fact that I had the phone in my hand with the flashlight app opened, I put the device in camera mode for a moment and took a photo of that unique scene.

"Thank you, Daisy." Rachel ran her hand over the doe's head. "I hope to see you around here soon."

The girl in the black top put the palm of her hand under Daisy's mouth and then, the doe placed the bag with the grass on it. Saying that I'm freaking out falls short. This girl... has something special. She seemed like out of another world, and no doubt she has a kind of magical aura around her. After this last event, the animal withdrew, entering into the depth of the forest at a calmer pace.

"That animal led you... to this place?" I asked, still looking astonished.

"You saw it yourself. This place will have some meaning for me at some point. I wonder what it'll be..."

"Maybe... you'll find the meaning this very night." Getting the courage and trying to sound serious, I uttered that sentence.

"Uh? What do you mean, Trevor?"

It was now or never. irretrievably, I threw myself to Rachel's lips. Every cell in my body was begging me to do it. Since I met her, I felt completely under her spell. I had to make it, or I would blow up... I wanted to be as special to her as she has been to me tonight.

Rachel didn't move away, and as I took my lips off from hers after my brief kiss, I could see her sketching a funny smile that, somehow, wasn't exactly what I expected.

"Cool! Now I can say that I've made out with someone from Blackwell!"

I looked in confusion and, after a few seconds, I decided to try again. This time, the blonde did move away, and holding me by the hand, she said:

"We should return with Chloe and your fella. They must be worried about us."

Ignoring my disappointment face, the impulsive girl dragged me by the hand back to the beach. Reluctantly, and with my free hand lighting the path to not stumble, I followed her. You could have my sympathy, Daisy, but you turned out to be a fraud. What could be more important to Rachel than hooking up with me in that place?

"Is something wrong, Trevor?" My blonde partner asked as we were moving. "What's with that sad face?"

"No… it's nothing."

I've been too clever by half and here they're the consequences. I should have realized that it isn't so easy to win over such a hot chick like she on the first try. I'd like to be the reason why Rachel was led to that place, but surely Daisy will have a deeper mission for her than simply me being the first Blackwell boy she made up with. At least, I can show off the fact that I kissed the famous Rachel Amber. I'm planning to brag about that with Justin when I could talk with him in private. I wonder how he's doing with Chloe. I bet he has tried to play some tricks on her too...

Back on the beach, Justin was talking persistently to the punk girl, and she in response was nodding to everything with indifferent face, while she was smoking a cigarette.

"Hey guys, we've recovered the pot!" Rachel made her triumphant entry onto the beach, raising her arms and showing the bag as a trophy.

"Holy fuck!" Said a surprised Chloe. "You were hella lucky…"

"Well... Daisy helped us to achieve it…" I added.

"Daisy?" Chloe made a funny face showing she didn't understand anything. "Who the hell is Daisy?"

"Apparently, someone who marked Rachel's fate..."

"Are you high already?" Asked the blue-haired girl in laughter. "Fate? Are you cereal?"

Rachel stood still for a while staring at the northern horizon, and answered in a thoughtful way:

"That cereal expression… Your disappeared friend used it, right? The one from Seattle."

"Forget it!" A nervous Chloe looked away and waved her hands. "I just slipped out! Well, we were playing that ' _I've never_ ' game, weren't we?"

No idea of what the girls were talking about, but before we could notice, another blunt and another round of beers were at our disposal. There was no hurry, the night was young and, for once in my life, I thought that this godforsaken Oregon bay wasn't so bad after all...

* * *

 **A/N: Hi guys! Back to work, this time with a skater team one shot.**

 **I wanted to make a chapter like this for mainly two reasons: let the reader take a break with a lighthearted story (since I won't be so nice for the next ones), and bring the spiritual side of Rachel that I haven't got the chance to narrate in _The Other Max_. Hope you like it. This is just begun :)**

 **Rachel says: " _Please review and lemme now your opinion! The curiosity is killing me!_ "**


	4. The Teacher and the Madman

Day after day, it's always the same fucking shit: Everyone knows me, everyone looks at me, they all seem to get along with me... but that's just the biggest lie in Blackwell's history. I can feel the fear and mistrust in their eyes when they come to me. I know that if they speak to me it's just for some kind of interest, for my influence, for my money. Deep down, I know perfectly well that everyone, at best, fears me, and at worst, they want me dead.

"Hey, Nate! Ready to rock tonight!"

I ran into Hayden on my way to the area that soon will become the Vortex Club VIP lounge. Impostor. You just want your piece of the club's pie so you can get high for free, with pills that my father's money pay. That damn old man who made my life a hell since I was born. Shit, I get chills in the spine just to remind him.

"Nathan, dude! They told me you're going to bring some hot chicks to the party tonight! Well done, man!"

Now that horndog Logan was the one who was speaking to me. Liar. You keep on kissing my ass so you can get the chance to screw some young Blackwell students every time the club organizes a party. I'm so fucked up with all this. Ignoring the degenerate Bigfoot player, I continued my way as I felt a cold sweat running down my forehead, and brought my hands to my throbbing temples.

I got into the bathroom. In my current anxiety state, I couldn't cope with all the shit I'm supposed to do tonight, so I need a breather. I looked my reflection in the mirror, resting my hands on one of the sinks. Too much sweat. Too many bags under my eyes. Could I handle this...?

I reached my trembling hand in my trousers' pocket and pulled out a blister pack, on whose back could be read _Diazepam_. I had already taken the dose that was supposed to correspond to me today, but since when the fuck have I paid attention to 'the dose that corresponds to me'? Drinking some tap water, I took a pill into my mouth and swallowed it. Much better for now.

"What are you afraid of?" I spoke to myself contemplating my face in the mirror. "You're the fucking boss, Nathan, you practically own the academy. You could even kick the principal out if you wanted to. If there's anyone suitable to do this shit, it's me. I have all the talent that it takes. _He_ told me so…"

Apart from my pills, if I could survive all this hell, it certainly has been thanks to him. My mentor, the only person who discovered my hidden talent and gave me a reason to live. Tonight, shortly, I'm meeting him. At least, for the few minutes we're together, I'll be able to forget all the shit going on and on inside my head.

I heard the sound of the bathroom door opening, interrupting my thoughts. It was that Victoria smart-ass. I can't stand her. Apart from thinking she's the center of the universe, and having a deplorable temper, she hasn't even learned the most basic lesson: Money doesn't bring you happiness, nor solve your problems. She still believes that wearing expensive clothes or buying cameras valued at thousand dollars will make her less miserable. Asshole. Fuck money, Fuck power. Fuck everybody.

"You know this is the girls' bathroom, right?" Said the short-haired slut with the conciliatory tone she always uses on me.

"Since when the Vortex Club pests pay attention to that?"

"Don't talk like it doesn't concern you, Nathan. You know perfectly well that without you, none of this could be possible." Victoria cleared her throat. "Tonight's girl just confirmed her attendance at the party, and will be coming soon."

"Tonight's girl…?"

"Shit, Nathan. Kate Marsh. She's our fucking classmate, and we've been talking about this for a whole week. Snap out of it!"

Right. That girl from photography class who seems to have never harmed a fly... that sanctimonious who hasn't even spoken to me since the academic year began... She was the chosen girl for tonight. I doubted that she finally agreed to come, but it seems that the club boys' persuasion worked. I'm sure _he_ will be very pleased.

"Are you even listening? You look dazed." The presumptuous blonde continued with her unbearable rant. "We have everything arranged, we have brought the camera so we can record everything. We even bought a web domain to upload the recorded material later."

"I'm not interested."

"What the…?"

"I said I don't give a fuck!" For the first time since we started the conversation, I stood in front of Victoria, and shouted as I clenched my fists. "Do whatthefuckever you want, but after that, I want that little bitch just for me. No one else around."

Victoria looked at me with a face between anger and fright. Surely, I used a far more threatening tone than I intended. As usual.

"Lay off the drugs, Nathan, or whatever that causes you that shitty character. See you at the party."

With these words, Victoria left, closing the bathroom door violently. She thinks she knows me better than anyone, but she has no fucking idea who I am, just like everyone else. Nobody in this fucking academy can guess even a tenth of all the shit I have in my head.

It's time, and after the encounter with that Victoria punkass, I felt even more incapable. I reached into my pocket again and popped another pill before leaving the bathroom.

Blackwell swimming pool enclosure, where the party will take place, was almost ready. The Vortex Club regulars were moving from side to side, finalizing the details. The lights were set, the refreshments were in place, the booze properly kept out of sight, and the DJ was auditioning. With great nervousness, I went to the office where I agreed to meet _him_.

My hand was shaking so bad it felt as if the door knob were dipped in oil. When I finally got into the office, barely lit by a dim lamp, there _he_ was: in his usual teacher's outfit, beard, glasses, upright pose, arms crossed, and gazing at me with a stern expression.

"You have much to explain, Nathan."

I know all the tones he uses. And the one he was using this time wasn't good. I shuddered and felt my legs like rubber.

"Kate... just confirmed her attendance. She'll come in a while..." I said in a trembling voice.

"Before that, you'd better keep an eye on your kids, Nathan. I wandered over the VIP lounge before, and tell me... something to say about a certain website supposed to host some uploaded video content? Answer me."

I felt like I was going to wet myself in a moment or another.

"What was the first thing I stated before we even picked up a damn camera, kid?" The teacher leaned his face close to mine. The lamp illuminated him in the backlight, creating a rather scary glow around his face.

"No leaks…" I answered in a low voice.

"So, what the fuck means that I've heard about filming it all and uploading it to the net!?" His tone became extremely aggressive and menacing.

"No... that has nothing to do with us..." I could barely talk in a normal voice tone. "Nothing that happens in the dark room will come out... I swear!"

In response, he gave me a strong slap in the face that made me cock my head and feel my right cheek sore and red-hot. I was used to that treatment from him. It will always be infinitely better than the treatment I have always received from my father in any case.

"You'd better make good, Nathan. I trusted you from the beginning. You are different from all the Blackwell scum: You're the only one who has real talent, the only one who can serve my purpose. Today is an important day for you: The first day you go the dark room all alone, in charge of everything, and I need you not to fuck it up."

"Aren't you coming…?" I said, with my face's right side still painful and my knees trembling.

"There's no need. You're smart enough to handle it without my help. Go, Nathan. If your job tonight satisfies me, I'll let you personally deal with Rachel Amber next time. Show me your talent, and surprise me."

My mentor's praises tempered my soul, and my eyes became wet. For an instant, all kinds of pain, physical or psychological, seemed to vanish.

"I'll do it… for you."

"That's the spirit, my young Prescott. Now go there and show me what you got."

He placed a hand on my shoulder affectionately. That gesture meant everything to me at that moment. I wanted to stay longer with him, to feel his warmth... But it couldn't do that. I had to go out there, and face the task he assigned to me tonight. After that kind words my adored mentor dedicated me, I felt strong enough to carry it out.

As I headed back to the VIP lounge with renewed encouragement, I saw the party had already begun. The music was thundering, and the first visitors were already dancing on the dance floor. Is she here...? Yeah, there she was. Seated on a couch, a soft drink in hand, and surrounded by several well-known members of the club, Kate Marsh was there. The girl was dressing in a very similar way she used to dress in class, although she made up a bit more than usual, wearing makeup and lipstick. Her face was kind of frightened and dubious, while Logan, next to her right, drew his hand dangerously close to the girl. It was a great opportunity to show my talent: Kate is one of the most innocent and purest girls I know. Capturing how her innocence corrupts and fades away will undoubtedly be a unique opportunity to win my master's respect. But before she falls into an unconscious state of mind so I could take her carefree to the dark room, I'll let those assholes have some fun with her.

Like a gloomy gargoyle, from a corner, I watched the whole process and supervised the boys do the agreed-upon part. If all goes as expected, the drugs that Kate's drink contained should take her down in a few minutes.

Everything were going according to plan, and Kate seemed to vanish little by little. The last conscious act I could see from the blond girl was picking up her cell phone and send a brief text message. Right after that, her eyes went almost blank. Taylor passed a hand in front of her field of vision, and as soon as they realized that she was completely unconscious, all the people around her began their particular party. Virtually the whole club was surrounding Kate, while Logan, Hayden, and other members of the Bigfoots groped her under her clothes. My face, which was increasingly less human each day, remained impassive as I watched how they were taking off the poor girl clothes, how she never opposed any resistance, and how Victoria, camera in hand, immortalized that scene forever.

I reached such a point of human baseness that I didn't mind watching my classmate, whom I see every day and sits just a few feet from me, being savagely raped by several members of the club. Kate, under the influence of some substance that completely annulled her will, obeyed without questioning all the club mates' orders and whims. Lying on her knees in vexatious pose, I'm fully convinced that it was the first time she performed those filthy actions I was witnessing, while she was being pawed or even slapped. I watched all in silence, arms crossed and leaning against a wall. There's no way that could affect me anymore. I knew that.

In the middle of the maelstrom, a girl with a pitiful gesture and watery eyes approached me, in a rather desperate voice.

"Nathan! Please, you must stop this! It's... it's horrible, you went too far! I didn't join Vortex Club for this!"

I see. It's that girl who was dating Logan and got pregnant. That Bigfoot cheerleader. No fucking idea what's her name. As soon as she grabbed my arm, I immediately shoved it away with disgust. What's your deal, girl? Leave me alone.

"You're raping a classmate! You could... go to jail for this! For God's sake, Nathan! Stop this! I'm begging you!"

What's with that tears? The girl can't be aware of anything. And even if it were so, it'd be just a collateral damage for the sake of a higher purpose: to serve my cause, my master's cause. Either way, no one has a fucking idea of what real suffering is.

Without saying a word to that girl, who was crying disconsolately, I stepped aside and watched the scene from the opposite side of the room. I don't give a fuck about that girl or anyone's feeling. It has been a long time since I lost interest in human emotions. I felt a strange sensation in my throat and chest as I stood with my arms crossed in another corner and the Bigfoots cheerleader continued to cry alone and distressed.

While the boys were having all the fun they wanted with our tonight's guest, I felt restless. Not that I wasn't enjoying the decadent show, but it's my turn now, and anyways, if they keep being so rough with the girl, they'd end up spoiling and defiling her innocent look, and I need that intact for my session. I pushed through the crowd around Kate. As soon as the people were aware of my presence, they let me pass without a word. I stood right in front of Kate, who had a completely blank stare and was completely naked, except for her crucifix pendant, still in her neck. That should turn them on. Disgusting.

"C'mon, Nate, man! I was about to…"

"Shut the fuck up." I interrupted Logan, the only one who had to guts to speak to me. "I'm taking her with me. Give me her clothes, a blanket, and the camera with everything you've recorded. And do me the favor and cover your junk while you talk to me."

No one put up any resistance. Someone handed me a bag with everything I asked for and, covering Kate with the blanket, I picked her up and took her with me.

As I left the club, many people's attention went to Victoria, who now was laughing and boasting proud of her work with the camera, and how she'll upload all she recorded to the net later. If there was no connection between the content that expensive device recorded and what is about to happen in a while in the dark room, there's nothing to fear. As far as I'm concerned, that Victoria slut can do whatever she wants. I'm not interested in their pathetic bullying to feel superior, but before these people do any bullshit, I want to have the camera in my power and properly supervise that the contents can't harm me.

Just before I stepped out the door, I glimpsed something unusual in the distance. Through the general public entrance, facing directly into the swimming pool, that tiny new student from photography class made her appearance. What was her name…? Max, I think. I had always felt that this girl was totally lost since she arrived in Blackwell, and that she'll never fit in this rotten academy. For some reason, her gaze caught my attention: Full of determination, as if she had a mission to fulfill. I wish her mission were finishing this shitty life I'm stuck in.

I tried to restrain my recurring suicidal thoughts as I headed to my car in the parking lot with Kate in my arms, leaving the unconscious girl lying in the back seats.

Once I was sitting in the driver's seat, before I started the vehicle I looked at the rearview mirror for a moment. How is it possible that I'm still so nervous and with eyes so red after taking such a high dose of pills? If the face is the mirror of the soul, my soul is certainly rotten, and every day becomes clearer that there's no possible salvation. My trembling hands made a gesture to rummage in the pocket where I kept the blister pack, but finally I made an effort to stop myself, gulped, and started the vehicle.

After a short trip where the only music that accompanied us was the noise of my disturbed thoughts, we arrived at our destination. There was absolutely no one in several miles around. Now I just had to follow the same procedure I had done so many times: Entering the old barn owned by my corrupt family, opening the hidden gate that led to the basement, and introducing the passcode into the panel, unlocking the armored gate that gave me access to my well-known dark room.

On this occasion, my mentor wasn't coming with me, but I just had to do the same thing as always... lay the model down over the backdrop, keeping her unconscious with the help of the drugs that were available in the room, preparing the photographic equipment... And create art. But this time, a strange feeling of anguish began to invade me.

The black walls of the studio started to swallow me. For the first time, the bizarre pictures that decorated the environment seemed tasteless to me. For the first time, I began to wonder if all this was really necessary. I became nauseous.

"It's just a fucking side effect. You went too far with the dose, Nathan, that's all. Just focus, and remember who you are doing this for."

With labored breathing and trembling pulse, I placed Kate over the white backdrop, turned on several spotlights around her and removed the blanket that covered her, leaving her naked body in a fetal position. When I could look directly into Kate's eyes, my world collapsed.

Kate's gaze, despite being blank, said too much. Looking at my innocent classmate a few inches away from those blinkless eyes made me want to vomit. It was too late. My master wasn't here, and now I'm feeling totally unprotected. With Kate's gaze and the cries of that Bigfoot cheerleader piercing in my head, I curled up on the dark room floor, wrung my hands, and noticed how the few sanity I had left was suddenly vanishing.

"Please… someone stop this…"

Abruptly, everything stopped making sense. The Vortex Club parties, the photographs, the search for that moment where the innocence evolved into corruption... Everything stopped mattering, giving way to the pain that Kate's look gave me, and reminded me too much of the pain I felt myself for most of my sad existence. All the tears I shed because of my family. All the thick words, the punishments, the abuse.

"Somebody help me, please… Mark… Dad…"

I couldn't go through whit this anymore. With the pulse rate I had right now, I couldn't even hold a camera, and anyways, pressing the shutter button was meaningless now. I need this torture to stop now. Still lying on the ground, with heroic effort, and after several failed attempts, I managed to pull the blister out of my pocket. My trembling hand was about to put another pill into my mouth, when suddenly I heard noises from above. I recognized a female voice.

"Nathan! Come over here now, wherever you are!"

She sounded certainly distressing and sad, more than threatening. I knew that voice. Who the hell could be, right now? And how the hell did she get in here? It was the worst moment imaginable for this, but my survival instinct made me get up on the spot, even though I could hardly stand up. I grabbed a gun from one of the shelves, and hurried up the basement steps.

Totally mad and soaked in sweat, I set out to look in every corner of the barn in search of the intruder, but my attacker proved to be more skilled than me. Without even giving me time to react, I felt the cold metal of a gun barrel rubbing my neck, to immediately hear the thunderous sound of the shot that ended my life.

So, this is it. All of a sudden... it's all over. There's no time for words of wisdom, no time for fucking prayers, no time to regret anything. During my very few remaining seconds before I fade away, at least I'd like to know who was the person who put an end to my misery. As I collapsed on the floor, I could glimpse for a moment the face of that person. It was her... That new student from photography class. So, her real task was finishing me off after all.

My body hit the wooden barn's floor. My conscience faded out. I'm free at last.

Thank you, Max…


	5. Love is not Enough - part 1

**Warning: from now on, this story is rated M due to explicit sex scenes. You're warned.**

* * *

Shit, that fucking alarm. I don't even know why I set it if I don't have any obligations at all: studies have ceased to be an option for me for so long, and you could say that my only job consists of standing the pain of my step-ass. Anyways, I suppose that's a way of forcing myself to stay on move and, incidentally, to avoid one or two scuffles at home. The first rays of sunlight began to illuminate my insanely messy room, and, with tremendous laziness, I began gradually to give some signs of life beneath my sheets.

First things first. Like a zombie, I took a blunt previously rolled from my bedside that would serve me as breakfast. It'll give me the necessary energy to cope with the morning.

"Just another shitty day in Arcadia Bay..." I talked to myself as I hit the first puff.

There was no rush. I enjoyed the effect of the weed while my body awakened, my muscles stretched and the room's atmosphere became thick due to the smoke that my blunt is generating. Once finished, I left my lair just with the clothes I stood up in: short pajama pants and an old tank top T-shirt. I went downstairs heading to the kitchen, wondering what face my folks would put me today.

"Good morning."

While preparing breakfast in the kitchen, mom barely looked at me sideways and greeted me curtly. Damn, here we go again. But I've been a good girl and I set the alarm clock early to have breakfast with them, even when I don't have to. Dude, there's no way I can get them.

The step-douche, sitting in the living room, was engrossed reading the newspaper, with his breakfast already served on the table and barely noticing my presence.

"What's with these stone faces?" I commented with a gesture between strangeness and anger as I took a seat "Shit, even when I woke up early today..."

"Mind your tongue, Chloe." mum spat as she poured me some coffee and pancakes. "We need to talk."

"What? What have I done now?" I answered and frowned self-defensive. Man, every day is the same. "I didn't have time to do anything yet!"

"David and I have been talking and... we agree that your situation can't extend any longer, Chloe."

So that's it. My mother looked at me sternly, but with traces of condescension. David barely set the newspaper aside and looked at us, as if it didn't concern him.

"We understand you've been going through some very tough days," mom continued, standing in front of me trying to relax the gesture, "because of last month's events, Rachel's disappearance and so on, but… Both David and I think that doesn't excuse the fact that you spend all day slacking off. If you don't want to continue your studies, you have to find a job as soon as possible."

I knew it. The same shit over and over again. What the hell do they want me to do if in this fucking town there's nothing but fishermen and truckers? Fuck, mom, just leave me alone.

"What the fuck do you want me to work on? I just can't come up with a hella job!"

"I don't see you trying, Chloe. Have you been to the town shopping area and drop off your resume? Are you even doing anything productive all day long?" Added the step-ass.

"For what?" I rose out of my chair and slammed both palms violently on the table. They are already fucking around with me. "Just to be rejected by my looks, or my inexperience, and then wallow even more in my misery?"

"Chloe... We just want to help." My mother frowned too, but she remained quiet and silent, with crossed arms.

"You're not helping a fuck! Y-you have no idea how I feel, all the shit I'm going through! Congratulations, today you managed to be a pain in the ass in record time! I'm off!"

"Chloe…"

Leaving the pancakes without being tasted, I returned to my room with wet eyes and clenched fists at a brisk pace. They have no fucking idea of everything I've been through all alone. Talk about losing your dad and your best friend... Witnessing her murder in the same room where she was, watching her dead body next to you... I can't stand it anymore. With all the speed and fury I could gather, I dressed in my usual rags, I took my backpack where I kept my tobacco, my dope, my music and some food, and escaped through my room's window.

I kept on walking dejected and aimlessly for a long time, while shitty thoughts crossed my mind, until I came up with a plan that could make me feel better.

There weren't many things that could keep my spirits up lately, but I must admit it's true what they say: when a door closes, a window opens; And, in this case, the window bears a name: Max Caulfield. That little girl that bailed on me five years ago when I needed her most. I have to say that, although I was resentful and had my doubts at first, Max pressed the right button and compensated for any past mistakes when she managed to save my life some weeks ago. She's back... completely changed, with incredible supernatural powers, and now... we have a somewhat peculiar relationship. I felt my cheeks turning red and my body burning just to recall Max.

Like a moth instinctively attracted to the flame, my body moved to Blackwell academy in autopilot mode with quicken breathing. Meeting Max had become a hella need. She's the only one who can make me feel better right now.

With rapid pulse, I stepped into the Blackwell campus. I'm not supposed to be in this place, I've been kick out from the academy long time ago, but who cares? With dissembling, I peeked my face through one end of the photography class window, stalking just like Jack Nicholson in _The Shining_. As I suspected, there she was. With her red hair dyed at my request, and her usual serious, absentminded countenance, focusing on the lesson being taught by the new photography teacher who replaced the bastard she killed with her own hands.

I sent her a simple text message: ' _Look at me._ ' Max, as soon as she felt her pocket buzzing, read my message slyly, and immediately her eyes looked for me in every direction, until she noticed my presence on the other side of the window, making a small wince. Luckily, she was the only one in the class who noticed me. I made a gesture nodding, indicating that I wanted her to leave the class and meet with me. Continuing with the mimicry, she answered something like that if I was crazy to ask for something like that right now. I repeated the same nod, this time with arched eyebrows and a more severe face. Max understood immediately and raised her hand in a few seconds, asking the teacher's permission to leave the classroom. She knows perfectly well that she can't refuse any request from me.

I waited with mischievous smile for Max to reach my position. I wondered what I could do with the little girl today. In any case, it will be fun for sure. As usual.

Max barely took a couple of minutes to join me, stood in front of me and looked at me with doe eyes.

"I like the outfit you chose for today..." That was the first thing I said to my redheaded friend, while looking her up and down.

Max's way of dressing changed a lot in the last month. It's true that I suggested she should be sassier in her outfits, and it's also true that she wants to please me, but deep down I know she also loves her new looks as well. On this occasion, he wore transparent brown stockings, a checkered purple miniskirt with frills, a light-brown halter top, and a thin black leather unbuttoned jacket. All this accompanied by several pendants, bracelets and earrings.

"I'm glad you like it..." Max looked at me with those glazed eyes.

"I was wondering what you wear underneath."

"Red panties. Those tight ones you liked so much."

"I like it..." I was starting to feel hot. Just a few seconds after we got together. "And on top?"

"I'm not wearing anything on top."

"Seriously? Lemme check."

Max's gesture turned hesitant at my request. The redhead looked in all directions, afraid to find someone nearby.

"Max, I said I want to check you aren't wearing anything on top." I insisted.

"Samuel is around…" Max looked away.

"It's just the janitor. He's working on his own. I said show me." I crossed my arms and looked with severe face again. Max knew exactly what that meant.

Just as we were on Blackwell's campus, close to the photography class window, Max lifted her halter, leaving her bare-breasted and proving she was right. I felt wet after watching the explicit views the time traveler offered me.

"See...?" Max said sheepishly as she covered her chest again.

"I can't wait to play with your body, Max ..."

"Right now…? We were taking an important lesson today in class…"

"I want you to come with me and let me fuck you." My voice became severe. "Right now."

"Okay…" Max's eyes revealed a mixture of worry and desire.

So yeah, this is the kind of relationship I have right now with the tiny redhead girl. I'm not sure how things turned like this, it's just... one day we started talking confidentially about our most unutterable sexual fantasies, little by little the conversation got hotter, and... we ended up practicing some of them. We go one step further each day that passes, our acts become dirtier, and nowadays we don't hold back a bit when it's about unleashing our deepest desires.

"Come with me."

I grabbed Max by one of his pendants and forced her to follow me. I walked inside the academy and took her with me into the girls' toilets. I didn't give a shit if someone sees us or not. I was being guided just by my instinct and my hormones. I could perceive the huge concern Max was showing in her face as I was carrying her with me.

With no subtlety, I forced Max to jump into one of the narrow toilets inside the bathroom, and then closed the door. The eyes of the redhead girl were wide, her mouth half open, her brow sweaty, but she didn't say a word.

"Give me your jacket and your skirt."

Without question, Max stripped off the clothes I asked for, and I hung them on a hook located in the door. Now the petite girl stood in front of me just in her halter and stockings. These were transparent, so I could easily glimpse her red panties underneath.

"Lemme check something…"

Max moaned as soon as she felt my hand suddenly reaching and feeling her most intimate parts beneath her stockings and underwear.

"We didn't even start, and you're so wet already. Why?"

"Because..." Max hesitated, but she kept looking into my eyes. "I'm so horny."

"I see. And why exactly are you so horny, may I ask?" I didn't withdraw my hand from Max's crotch, and I kept caressing her, playing softly with my fingers as I spoke.

"Because everything you do turn me on so much, Chloe…"

"What is turning you on? Tell me."

Max was cornered and helpless in that narrow place, completely at my mercy. Her face was all red and her mouth was still half open, breathing heavily.

"Your teasing turns me on, and..." Max's voice faltered. Her body was contouring at my hand's rhythm.

"And…?"

"And... you turn me on if you touch my pussy like this..." Max's face turned even redder as he uttered that dirty sentence. I can't help it, I love making her behave like a slut.

"Oh, yeah? And what if I stop now?" I gave up moving my hand, which continued beneath Max's red panties.

"No, please…"

"But you wanted to go to that so important photography class, don't you...?"

"No… now I need…"

"Yup…?"

"I need you to fuck me now, Chloe!"

My face lit up as I heard Max's words and I grinned. Now I have her just where I wanted. My crappy day was starting to get better.

"You're wearing too much clothes. You know what you have to do."

I noticed Max's body trembling as she took her T-shirt off and handed it to me, leaving her topless just some few inches away from me. Before she continued, she stood looking at me, as if pleading for mercy.

"It's embarrassing…"

"Embarrasing, my ass. You showed me everything a hella bunch of times, and you know it."

"Yeah, but… not in the academy's toilets…" The blush on Max's face didn't fade.

"Max. I want you to take your panties off. Now!"

"Y-yes!"

Those were the magic words. A simple order is enough for Max to make her obey and please me. It may sound cruel, but I know perfectly well that she is enjoying this game as much as I am.

She started dropping her stockings to the knees level, and then she did the same, very slowly and doubtfully, with her underwear that matched her hair's color. Max trembled and moaned as she showed me her body in all its glory, and I was watching her with a complacent look.

"Please, Chloe… I can't hold it anymore…"

"What's the matter? Problem, Max?" I stood with my arms crossed, enjoying my playmate's swaying.

"Play with me… please…"

My gaze focused on Max's crotch. She was completely soaked. A drop of her fluids slipped, running down her thigh.

"Aren't you ashamed to be so disgustingly horny when you're supposed to be in class, Max? You are such a pervert."

"All this is because of you... You make me look like a slut..."

"Interesting... So, what should I do...?" I brought my index finger to my chin. "Should I ease your suffering or...?"

"Yes, please... Make me cum." It was obvious Max was on her limit.

"Sorry? I can't hear you…"

"Fuck me already, damn, Chloe!"

Max frowned and leaned her face next to mine. That girl has the guts to talk to me like that, but seeing how desperate she was, I decided that the show must go on. With all my energy, I inserted my fingers into the red-haired girl's crotch and masturbated her at great speed. They entered with staggering ease due to her notorious moisture.

"Don't you dare to talk to me like that again, you fucking slut." I whispered into her ear. "You're going to be punished for that."

Max rolled her eyes and she began to moan noisily, until she remembered that she was in a public place and put a hand to her mouth, forcing herself to remain silent. Even so, she didn't quite succeed.

"Chloe... If you keep touching me like that, you're going to drive me nuts..." Max mumbled with difficulty between moans.

"I won't stop until you cum."

My horny friend let herself go and was totally indulged in pleasure, when suddenly we heard the sound of the bathroom door opening, indicating that we were no longer alone. No way, man. I refused to cut the party, so I didn't pull out my hand and continued masturbating Max with the same intensity.

Max's eyes widened. She raised his index finger to the corner of his lips asking me to stop and be quiet. Not only I didn't obey her, I laid my free hand on her mouth so that she would remain silent and let me do.

The toilet's door next to us opened. We could feel perfectly the anonymous person's breath on the other side of the wall, and we heard faint sounds of clothes brushing. Next, we heard the voice of the mysterious person.

"Hi, Mom! It's Kate."

Wow, so we have Max's meek friend around us talking on the phone. Interesting... I watched my playmate's face, to see that she was still wide-eyed, without blinking. I also noticed that down there, she became even wetter. So, this scene turns you on, huh, Max? I decided to increase the speed of my fingers while our toilet neighbor went on with her phone conversation.

"Yes, doing great here in the academy! I've made a lot of friends... Yes... Above all, a girl named Max. She is very kind... and really beautiful too!"

The tremendous blush on Max's face was an unmistakable sign that she was ready. With my left hand covering her mouth and my right hand masturbating her vigorously, I looked at her eyes, and whispered in a very low voice so that only she could hear me:

"Cum…"

"Sure, Mom." Kate was still talking on the phone. "I'm doing all the laundry perfectly on my own... Yes, I didn't forget about my bras and panties..."

Max's eyes went blank, I felt her legs twitching and her body was shaking with little spasms for more than half a minute, to finally end up exhausted. I had to hold her, otherwise she would have collapsed on the floor. She was drenched in sweat and her face looked like if she just ended running a marathon.

"Of course, Mom, I'll take care of myself. Thanks, Mom. Okay, we'll talk later. Lots of love! Bye!"

Kate could finish her conversation quietly and even drink some tap water while Max managed to catch her breath. The girl looked like she was going to collapse at any moment. At the end, I heard Max's classmate coming out of the bathroom, closing the door and leaving us completely silent again. I looked closely at the red-headed girl's defeated face before opening my mouth.

"Max, you scoundrel… I know you have rewound, you can't hide that from me. So tell me, how many times…?"

"I think… I came seven times." Max answered with broken voice.

My pupils dilated. Damn lucky girl with powers.

"Holy shit, seven times! You're making me jealous, Max…"

"Let me return you the favor…" Max hands headed impulsively to my breasts.

"No." I said, grabbing my hot friend by the wrists. Now you must go back to class, Max. I'll let you return me the favor later, in the afternoon."

"Oh, gawd..." She protested as she grabbed her clothes off the hook and began to get dressed again. "Where'll we meet?"

"On the beach, under the lighthouse cliff, at six o'clock. I'll be there waiting for you."

"Can't wait for the moment…" Answered Max passing her hand over my neck.

"I can't wait either. Believe me. See you, Max. I love you."

And then there was an extremely uncomfortable silence. My cheeks burned. Shit.

"What did you just say, Chloe…?"

"I-I love… your slutty behavior! See you at six! Goodbye!"

All nervous and head down, I went out of the bathroom at full speed, leaving Max alone in the academy again. I ran out of the main building carrying my backpack, until I reached the street. Then I slowed down and lit a cigarette, not even daring to look ahead.

Shit Chloe, you were about to fuck it all up. What's wrong with you? You can't confess your true feelings right now. Both you and Max are having a hella rough time, and I'm convinced that Max hasn't move on yet since Rachel's death. She doesn't feel the same as you do, Chloe. And besides, if all you do when you hang up with her is playing these depraved games, the situation will never change. Just hold on and let it be for a while, that's the best thing you can do at the moment.

"That's the only thing I can do…"

I tried to convince myself as I walked aimlessly through the empty streets of Arcadia Bay and took a deep puff on my cigarette. It was fun while it lasted, but the right thing to do now is leaving Max alone with her student duties and resuming my shitty life for just a while longer.

* * *

 **A/N: I have to say this chapter was hella fun to write. Probably controvesial as not everybody will like this kind of relationship between Chloe and Max, but anyways... hope you liked it.**

 **Leave your review** **, please!**


	6. Love is not Enough - part 2

This late-November weather was starting to be so much of a pain in the ass if I keep wandering all alone on the street for so long. Sitting on the sidewalk, smoking a cigarette and looking at the sky, I watched the dim sun that lit me being covered again by a giant bank of clouds.

A little of that Rachel's positive attitude would come in handy right now... With all the ordeal the poor girl had to endure, how could she ever be so optimistic? She probably would be able to find a bright side in both loneliness and wintry weather. Nevertheless, I can't help feeling like shit, with nowhere to go, and no one who keeps me company.

"It's about six." I said to myself as I looked at my watch. "I should be moving my ass to the cliff right now."

Not even meeting Max comforted me. What good does it to me, if I'm an asshole to the point of not being able to confess her my true feelings? Anyways, even if I did so, she'd think I'm messing with her and never believe me. I can't blame her: who could believe that a girl with such a badass attitude, the impassive rebel who seems to wear a ten centimeters thick armor around her heart and who only thinks about sex, is actually in love with her childhood friend? It's the same dilemma every fucking day. I must put an end to this.

"Enough of this, Price." Suddenly I stopped in the middle of my walk towards the lighthouse, making a firm determination. "Not gonna happen today. Not a single day more suffering this torture."

I didn't have much time until Max made her appearance, so I hurried and, once I was in the beach under the Arcadia Bay lighthouse, I took a long stick that was lying on the sand and started to scribble something.

By the time I wanted to realize, it was already six. Shit, I'm late. Carrying my backpack with me, I rushed to our meeting point. My suspicions were confirmed: Max was already there, waiting for me.

We met in that place several times before. It was located right on the border between Arcadia Bay's beach and the cliff that leads to the lighthouse, where coastal vegetation and litter started to blend with the beach sand. I stopped in front of the redhead girl, and putting my palms over my knees, I said in a gasp,

"I-I'm sorry Max! I'm late!"

Max was wearing the same outfit as this morning in Blackwell, consisting of her miniskirt, semi-transparent stockings and leather jacket. Her arms were crossed and her expression, despite being tender, seemed to be rebuking me.

"Gawd, Chloe... You left me desperate and horny during all this morning, and now you keep me here waiting for you for so long!"

"Max..." I still couldn't catch my breath. "There's a place where I'd like… you and me..."

Without letting me finish my sentence, Max threw herself at me and gave me a lascivious kiss, accompanied by several bites and licks around my lips and neck.

"Max…! W-wait…!"

"Stop teasing me! You've been punishing me all this day without your presence! And now my panties are soaked because of you... Look."

Max grabbed my hand and placed it directly in her crotch. How could it be possible she still wants some more? This morning she told me that she came about seven times… Does she never have enough?

"But I... Max...! What are you doing? We are outdoors!"

Max put her index finger on my lips, ordering me to shut up. Pushing her hand over mine, she pressed her intimate parts in circular movements, inviting me to play with her. Meanwhile, with her free hand she grasped my breasts. I moaned and my mind began to lose focus. Shit, here we go again.

"Fuck, Max…"

Before I could realize, we were both lying on the ground, smooching in the leafy forest landscape that surrounded the Arcadia Bay lighthouse. Max lifted my tank top, uncovering my breasts while she kept playing with them mercilessly. My hand began to slip irretrievably beneath the red-haired girl's underwear. At least, I was sure that no one will lurk this area at this time of the day.

"Look how dirty I'm feeling, and it's all your fault. Fuck me, please..."

Max moaned noisily and it took her a tremendous effort to utter those words. Her face was all red, her mouth half open, her eyes blank. She wasn't lying when she said her underwear was completely soaked. This girl... is she even human?

I never asked for this. This afternoon, my intentions were to open my heart and confess Max my true feelings once and for all. I really was willing to do that. But I'm not made of stone, and when this little girl plays that slutty role, I really lose my mind.

Lying on top of her, I was unable to remove my fingers from Max's soaking crotch, and I kept them moving faster and faster.

"Oh shit, don't stop. Please keep fucking me like that. Fuck me, Rachel..."

It couldn't be that I heard what I think I heard. My pupils dilated. My hand suddenly stopped moving. My facial expression changed radically.

"Uh... I mean... Oh, damn..." Max's face also went from joy to guilt in just a second. You screwed up. You screwed it all up, Max.

"What... did you just call me?" I immediately pulled my trembling hand out from Max as I put on my tank top again and stood up. My eyes got wet and I could hardly breathe.

"Chloe, I… I'm sorry…"

"I'm not Rachel!" In the middle of my hysterical reaction, a few tears started to slide down my cheeks. "So all this time... I've been nothing but a fucking substitute! Get that into your head, Max, I'm not Rachel!"

I couldn't bear it. Out of me, I ran as I covered my tearful eyes with my hands. I wanted to die in that precise moment. This betrayal was the last straw. Now I don't have any reason left for staying in this fucking town anymore.

Moved by inertia, my rushed strides brought me inside the solitary and abandoned town's lighthouse. Intending to completely isolate myself from the rest of the world, I climbed the stairs to the highest point. Rachel and I had used to spend the afternoon drinking, smoking and laughing right where I was now, but remembering that only made me feel worse. Unable to stop my tears, I curled up in a corner of the room. There was a railing just in front of an old control panel, whose views made possible to watch the ocean in all its glory. The sound of the waves crashing against the cliff accompanied my crying.

What naive you've been. You've let your guard down, Price. Long time has passed since you decided to trust absolutely no one, but now you've betrayed yourself. You should have trusted your first instinct that told you that hanging with Max again wasn't a good idea. That stupid tiny girl already bailed on you five years ago, and you've let her do it one more time. Never again. The more you grow older, the more you can confirm that everybody lies, without exception.

"Max… you damn traitor."

After a long time immersed in despair, and after many tears shed, I heard footsteps approaching me. Don't even dare to come closer, you ungrateful ass. Leave me alone.

But the truth is that I didn't have any strength to move an inch. I didn't even lift my head on my knees, but I could notice the presence of my disloyal friend a few feet away from me.

"Chloe... I-I'm so sorry. Let me explain you, please..." I didn't answer. I didn't even look up. "You're not a replacement for anyone. Really, you have to believe me... For me, you will always be Chloe..."

Max rested her hand on my knee, and I pulled it away immediately.

"Don't touch me, you traitor!" I continued sobbing. For the first time, I looked up and spoke to Max's face. "Get lost! Now it's completely clear who are your thoughts with, and who I am to you!"

"Please, Chloe, you have to listen! You mean a lot to me! You're my childhood friend, you're... all I have left!"

"You said it yourself: all you have left. You have to settle for me, but you'd want me to be another person instead!"

Max made a pitiful gesture and looked away.

"Chloe..." After much hesitation, finally the tiny girl decided to answer me with trembling voice. "Have you ever fallen in love?"

I blushed. What the fuck is this dork saying? I don't know... If I ever fell into the clutches of that stupid feeling they call love, it would be because of you, Max. But that will never come out of my mouth, Even more reason at this moment.

"Why the fuck are you asking me that now…?" I said, not daring to look at Max's face.

"Let's face the truth and be honest, Chloe. You may not like it, but yeah, I fell in love with Rachel, and you know it. It's not like I could choose it. No one can choose their feelings."

"Okay. You've already made your point, Max. And now, please leave me alone and don't speak to me never again."

"Let me finish, Chloe!" Max clenched her fists, her eyes shining brightly. "Do you think this I like this? Do you think I enjoy being in love with a dead person? Do you even think you are the only one who is having a tough time here...?"

Max's voice broke as she uttered those resounding words. I didn't know what to say. Honestly, I must admit that Max's current life is not bed of roses...

"Let me tell you something," she continued. "I still cry almost every night. Although I managed to keep going to the academy and lead a rather normal life, when I go back to my room all alone, I can't hold it, no matter how hard I try. I still see her. I still remember all the sensations we live. And... I miss her so much..." Max burst into tears. "I'm in love with a ghost, Chloe. And believe me, it's not pleasant."

Watching Max crying didn't make me feel better. In fact, I felt like a fucking selfish asshole.

"Max, I... I had no idea you were going through such a harsh time…"

"And despite all that," Max interrupted my clumsy words, "if I managed to move ahead, even a little bit, it was thanks to you, Chloe. When I'm with you, I forget all the pain. You are the only person that makes me feel something good right now... if that isn't enough for you... If you still think that you don't play a role important enough in my life, you are free to leave now and never speak to me again."

Oh, shit... Max got me now. Okay, I admit it: that isn't enough for me. An egocentric side of me wants Max to forget about Rachel and stay exclusively just for me. But is that even possible? Am I acting like a spoiled, whimsical, unrealistic girl? Being like this makes me feel like the biggest scum of mankind...

"I... I don't know what to say, Max. I'm really sorry you feel that way. I don't know what to do, I'm a hella mess..."

"We had to talk about this sooner or later, Chloe." Max sat up and, with her hands behind her back, paced slowly around the room. Why do you think I didn't rewind even after fucking it up? I wanted to clarify this once and for all. I also feel guilty and selfish, maybe neither of us have been honest until now..."

"After telling me this I wouldn't dare to blame you, Max. You have a great burden behind your back and you still have to deal with this blue-haired punkass every day..."

"Not really. Probably this redhead was being even more stupid..." Max looked at me tenderly, trying to smile. "By the way, what did you want to tell me before I threw myself around your neck?"

Max ended her walk around the room after stopping in front of the railing, resting both hands on it. She stared at the landscape that showed in front of her, then immediately paralyzed with eyes and mouth wide open. Oh, no.

"Chloe, this…"

That wasn't how I planned it. I do wanted Max to see it, but not in these circumstances. Now it's too late... she already discovered on her own what I was up to this afternoon before I met her.

"Max, no! Don't look!"

I got up immediately and ran to the railing, until I stood right next to Max. I had the courage to look her in the face. She was still paralyzed, staring at the beach just below us. I could see a tear trickling slowly from her eye and her trembling hand searching mine. I couldn't help it: I let Max take my hand and, in turn, I took hers firmly. With fast heartbeat, I gazed at the message that I left her in the beach.

Drawn in the sand, with gigantic letters that could be read even from the great height in which we were now, I wrote the following words: " _I love you, Max._ " That was the surprise I had prepared for her this afternoon, but nothing went as planned, and now I was afraid her reaction would be negative. For a very long time, we both held hands without saying a word, and finally, Max looked at me and broke the silence.

"Chloe…"

"Yes, Max?"

"Let's get some ice cream at Two Whales. Now."

Max's face, still with wet eyes, was bustled with tenderness.

"And what about that we were doing before we came here to the lighthouse...?"

Max shook her head vigorously.

"Let's get things right for once, Chloe. Let's start from scratch. If we do so, I'm sure that I will be able to give you an answer to your message really soon..."

Max's smile made my face light up. She hasn't run away. She wasn't angry or reacted in a negative way even after confessing my feelings... Things went much better than I expected.

"Sure thing!"

Still staring each other, and without letting go each other's hands, we started to move towards the lighthouse's exit, heading for our favorite diner.


End file.
